Carribean Princess review

[Jersey42]

We were on the Caribbean Princess last week (5/27 - 6/3), and our experience was different from that of the OP.  I don't doubt any of what the OP has reported, but I do not think it is a systemic problem with the Caribbean Princess and I would not hesitate to sail on her again.  We were on Emerald deck forward, port in an obstructed oceanview. Here is some of what we experienced.

 

Roaches - We never noticed any, nor did any of the many passengers we interacted with ever mention roaches.  We have also never noticed a roach on any previous cruise.

 

Hair in food - We have never noticed a hair in any of our food on this or any ship. We did not eat this cruise at the Salty Dog.

 

Plumbing problems - We had none in our cabin on this cruise.  We have occasionally had temporary blocked toilets on other cruises on various ships that were usually solved fairly quickly.  The only plumbing problems we experienced on this cruise were was an unusable sink in a public bathroom because of a broken sensor, and a temporarily out of order urinal.

 

Staffing - We did not notice that they were short staffed. If they were, we were not impacted by it.

 

MDR - We had a 6:00 reservation in the Coral or Island dining room every night but one.  We easily made the 7:30 show every night except one when we ate with a group of eight.  One couple left a few minutes early and they found one of the last few show seats just before show time.

 

Luggage - Ours arrived within an hour after boarding.  The OP mentioned on another thread that their room was upgraded at the last minute and they were told their luggage would be delivered to the new room.  Sounds like it worked for two bags and Princess blew it on the third piece.  Should Princess have held it until the next morning, or called them at midnight?  Without Princess knowing if there was anything critical in the luggage, it is hard to tell what was the best approach.

 

Entertainment - I agree that the Princess Theater and Club Fusion shows were a mixed bag and could have been better. I am also sure different people have different opinions.  There were only two production shows, unlike the three we used to see on seven day cruises in the past. The first was Bravo which we have seen many times, and it is not one of our favorites.  We really enjoyed comedienne Cory Kahaney.  She started off a little slow on the first night, but finished strong.  Her Club Fusion show was excellent.  Comedy Magician Eric Buss also had two shows.  We liked him enough to go to his second show, but we certainly have seen better.  The Madonna imitator was not our favorite - probably because we are not big Madonna fans as opposed to her singing ability.  We skipped the last two nights.  One was a male soul singer and the other was the Princess orchestra with a solo from cruise director Jody Miles.  This cruise had a lot more "game shows" that we have seen before. Our favorite show of the entire cruise may have been one of the game shows which   

[getaway101]

On 6/3/2023 at 5:38 PM, BamaVol said:

Just because you don’t see roaches doesn’t mean they aren’t there. One = hundreds, none = zero isn’t likely. One may represent one. Zero could also represent hundreds. I think they’re everywhere. They thrive in the tropics. In fact they thrive everywhere. 

They also love cardboard boxes.  When we had our Subways I was adamant that on delivery day all boxes were opened and  items stored on shelves.  Many times as boxes were being opened a roach or two would scurry out until a heavy foot fell on them 😉  I wonder if the ones complaining about the roaches have any idea how many cardboard boxes are loaded onto a ship at every port?

[susancruzs]

30+ cruises, never seen a roach.  However, moved into an apt., 100 yr. old former hotel building.  I love it, roaches not so much.  With radiator heat, water pipes through all the walls, hard to eliminate them, too many nooks, crannies.  

[eclue]

Have never seen a roach on a princessship in 46 cruises. On the caribbeAn princess now..docked in San Juan, PR……no plumbing problem for us  but someone on this deck…dolphin….overflowed the toilet.

there are temp variations from area to area. Our cabin is cool, the casino is warm as are the elevators.

the room stewards are great. 
service in the buffet are good…no issues for us.

our luggage was delivered on a timely basis…

overall, no problems for us..the food is good…we r not foodies.

 

[philv]

Have sailed many Princess cruises and never have seen a bug.  We are on Caribbean Princess in March and love this ship. Love Skywalker lounge for evening happy hour. Enjoy! 🚢

[susancruzs]

I'm going on this ship in Oct., looking forward to it.  I will say with the older ships, seems like not much middle ground in the reviews. I ignore all comments about food, nothing is going to be perfect for those with great expectations, their standards are too high maybe.  I've never had a bad meal on a cruise, some are better than others, but all edible.

 

I sail for itinerary, I've been on the Royal class, too but my last cruise was on Sapphire.  I have Regal and Majestic booked, too for '24.  If I went by some reviews, I'd stay home.